Students & Science Collide

Classrooms Head to PSE’s Goldendale Plant to see the Power of Electricity

Media Opportunity (Oct. 23, 2013):

Goldendale, Wash. – Science students in Klickitat County are set to get a charge out of lemons and potatoes. A small army of 4th, 5th and 6th graders will deploy to Puget Sound Energy’s Goldendale Generating Station for a round of eye-opening experiments that show how electricity can be conducted using common household produce. They’ll make batteries using the lemons and potatoes that illuminate small light bulbs.

Nearly 100 students will make the trip. They’ll also tour the power plant to get a better idea of how a modern, natural gas-fired facility generates electricity that powers hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

Who

Grade-school students from the Goldendale Primary, Klickitat, and Seventh Day Adventist School.

Visuals

As part of the tour, the children will participate in hands-on demonstration projects, including working with motors and generators (using magnets and bicycles), illuminating small light bulbs using lemons and potatoes, and learning about energy safety from a “hazard hamlet” display.

When

Friday, November 1, 9:15 – 11:30 a.m.

Where

Visuals

In addition to learning about the powers of lemons and potatoes, students will also be involved in lots of other hands-on demonstration projects, including working with motors and generators (using a wind turbine or bicycle generator). Plus, there will be a safety awareness presentation and an explainer on how electricity is made.

Info

Background

The Goldendale Generating Station, built in 2004, is one of PSE’s newest power plants. The facility, purchased by the utility in 2007, can produce up to 277 megawatts of power, enough power to meet the peak electricity needs of about 200,000 households. The facility employs modern, “combined-cycle combustion turbine” (CCCT) technology that allows it to generate electricity both from a generator connected to its single, natural gas-fired combustion turbine and from an additional generator powered from steam produced by the combustion turbine’s exhaust heat.

About Puget Sound Energy

Puget Sound Energy is Washington state’s oldest local energy company. We serve 1.1 million electric customers and more than 760,000 natural gas customers in 10 counties. For more information, visit www.PSE.com. Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.